The Arbroath ”superschool” application received its death blow on Thursday as the new nationalist Angus Council scrapped a judicial review.
Party divisions remained clear at the county buildings in Forfar, as all but one of the opposition councillors voted against the SNP’s motion to drop Court of Session action relating to the Scottish Government’s blocking of the £8 million project.
It was revealed that the council had already spent an estimated £10,000 on taking the case forward and calls came from several former Angus Alliance councillors to let the review run its course.
Arbroath councillor Sheena Welsh put forward the motion to ditch the action and begin a fresh consultation period, seconded by fellow town councillor Alex King, with Carnoustie councillor Bill Bowles voting with the SNP to carry it 16 to 13.
Mrs Welsh said: ”I do not intend to revisit the arguments that have been well rehearsed in this chamber on many previous occasions.
”I believe that the initial consultation and the information which it generated were flawed and that, as a consequence, the entire decision making process was flawed.”
The council’s director of finance Neil Logue was asked questions on the history of the application to shut Muirfield and Timmergreens primaries in Arbroath in favour of a new school, and made clear that he stood by work done under the previous administration.
Arbroath councillor David Fairweather and former council leader Bob Myles made passionate statements calling for the review to continue and accused the SNP of ”political interference”.
Mr Fairweather said: ”Throughout this process our officers have been transparent open and accountable and have stringently followed through guidelines and best practices.
”Whether or not the judicial review is withdrawn will have no bearing on the way forward but it will give us a decision on whether the minister acted outwith his powers.
”Why would we need to stop this unless the SNP have something to hide?”
Arbroath SNP councillor Ewan Smith, who led the Muirfield Action Group that campaigned against the project, said he was ”relieved” the review had been scrapped.
He added: ”We really now have to look forward to the consultation proposal which will look at the condition and suitability ratings for every school in Arbroath and not just Muirfield and Timmergreens.
”We are not going to the public and saying ‘This is what we are doing, what do you think?’ We will be asking ‘What do you want and how can we achieve it?”’